ABSTRACT
In this final chapter I round up some ideas on the fate of myths and mythologies in the contemporary world as well as the possibilities for the study of them. It is relevant to ask “what happened” to the myths with the coming of the modern world, one that has in many places become quite secularized and strongly oriented towards scientific worldviews. If ancient sceptics did not always believe in myth — so much less do the moderns, because they want historical fact and not “idle tale.” 1 With the French philosopher of history Michel de Certeau we may say that “Historical discourse becomes the only possible myth of a scientific society that rejects myth” (1986, 220). Then again, that is a very strong version of “myth-rejection” that is not universal, for “modern society” is no uniform category. Although many nations have undergone various modes of secularization in many sectors of society, many have retained their religious and also mythical traditions alongside such changes. Thus, “modern” society does not by necessity imply a totally de-traditionalized or secular society, but may be one in which the many fields, sub-systems or sectors are more or less traditional and driven by conventional religious values and symbols. Closer investigations and new methods, as discussed below, will show that myth and mythmaking has not disappeared, but assumed different forms because myths do not just belong to the past. We are all soaked in them, and they are embedded in everything from art to ideology, from advertising to politics; and there is even an “entertainment” industry that is as much mythmaking as it is entertaining. However, the myths are as “invisible” as they always were; also today they “think themselves in humans” — and without their knowledge of it 2 The transparency of current myth only becomes discernible through that which is different and at a distance. Thus, the myths of “here and now” will only be disclosed and relinquish their transparency through an intimate acquaintance with the myths of “then and there.” This collection has focused on how that can be done. Ideally, we should be able to do fieldwork on our own thoughts and worlds and the study of strange stories may lead to a reflective enlightenment that enables us to do that. This may sound too philosophical or “lyrical” to some, but I think it is important and it is something I tell my students, not least because they seldom realize that they are also “soaked in myths.” So, myths have not disappeared in the modern world but changed their appearances and the first part of this chapter addresses the question: “What happened to myth?” That is, if they survived, what do they “look like” today?
